May 2. Lake Norman’s small businesses are the fuel for our economy, Bill Russell, CEO of the Lake Norman Chamber said at the start of Small Business Week.

“Our small businesses here at the lake are the absolute foundation of our regional economy and while we take this week out to recognize small business, every week is Small Business Week here at the lake. The Chamber has for 35-plus years been the voice for our small business community, but it the businesses themselves which speak louder than the words and it is a privilege to work with and for each one of them,” Russell said.

Small Business Week is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit of small businesses across the country. In 2022, North Carolina’s 994,500 small businesses accounted for more than 99% of the state’s businesses while employing 1.7 million people statewide.

Bill Russell

In Lake Norman, the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce is celebrating small business with “The Small Business Event of the Year” presented by Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center and featuring Douglas Marion, Sam James, Thomas Holden, Tracy Alston, and Steve Gilliland.

The event will be broadcast on WSIC 105.9 FM and Facebook LIVE with Bill Russell and Joe Vagnone.

Small businesses—any business with fewer than 500 employees, according to the SBA—contribute significantly to the flow of goods from North Carolina to the global market with more than 9,100 small firms exporting merchandise from North Carolina, generating 21.4 percent of the state’s $26 billion in exports in 2020.